Red Jacket Memorial, (sculpture).

Red Jacket Memorial, (sculpture).

W. & J. Littlejohn, fabricator.

Gorham Manufacturing Company, founder.

Beattie & Brooks, fabricator.

Red Jacket Memorial, (sculpture).

Installed Oct. 1891.

Sculpture: gray granite with bronze relief plaques; Base: gray granite.

Sculpture: approx. H. 14 ft. x Diam. 3 ft.; Base: approx. H. 5 ft. x Diam. 7 ft.

W. & J. LITTLEJOHN/DESIGNERS & BUILDERS (On plaque on front of base, raised:) RED JACKET/SA-GO-YA-WAT-HA/(HE KEEPS THEM AWAKE)/THE ORATOR OF THE SIX NATIONS OF IROQUOIS/CHIEF OF THE WOLF CLAN OF THE SENECAS/BORN NEAR THIS SPOT/1758/DIED AT BUFFALO, N.Y./1830 (On metal plaque on back of base:) ERECTED BY/THE WATERLOO LIBRARY/AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY/A.D.1891/W. & J. LITTLEJOHN/DESIGNERS AND BUILDERS (On outer edge of United States seal plaque on base:) BECIFFIE & BROOKS (On metal relief plaque, below relief:) GEORGE WASHINGTON/"PRESIDENT"/1792/BECIFFIE AND BROOKS unsigned Founder's mark appears.

Grey granite "oak" tree trunk with two truncated limbs branching out from either side near the top. The sculpture stands on an octagonal granite base with four bronze relief plaques. The plaque on the front of the base features a high relief profile head of a snarling wolf at the top; and at the bottom, a relief of a peace pipe and crossed tomahawk (the latter a copy of one Washington presented to Red Jacket). Two other sides of the base feature relief tablets of the Great Seal of the United States and an engraving of a figure in Native-American dress handing a peace pipe to a figure in Western dress (copies of the two sides of the Red Jacket Medal presented to the chief by Washington in 1792). Clustered around the base of the monument are six boulders representing and bearing the names of the six nations of the Iroquois.

Homage -- Red Jacket

Ethnic -- Indian -- Iroquois

Landscape -- Tree

Figure group -- Male

Object -- Weapon -- Axe

Object -- Other -- Pipe

Outdoor Sculpture -- New York -- Canoga

Administered by Waterloo Library and Historical Society, 31 East Williams Street, Waterloo, New York 13165

Located Canoga Cemetery, Route 89, Canoga, New York

The sculpture is a memorial to Red Jacket (Sa-Go-Ya-Wat-Ha), an orator of the Iroquois nations and Chief of the Wolf Clan of the Senecas. The sculpture alludes to Red Jacket's dying words "I am an aged tree and can stand no longer, my leaves are fallen, and my branches are withered, and I am shaken by every breeze." The sculpture was erected by the Waterloo Library and Historical Society and is sited on land owned by the Canoga Cemetery. The sculpture is located immediately next to the cemetery. The sculpture is believed to have been donated by a woman from New York City. Cost of the sculpture was $1,321.00. IAS files contain copy of related correspondence and related Oct. 21, 1891 minutes of the Board of Trustees of the Waterloo Library and Historical Society.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York survey, 1994.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, NY5083, 1989.

Monumental News, Nov. 1891, pg. 420.

Monumental News, Nov. 1891, pg. 420.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Control Number:

Horizon Information Portal 3.0

Powered by SirsiDynix

About | © 2020 Smithsonian | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact

SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System